The road, depicted as twin strips of gray, starts out with four
lanes as it glides westward from the Colorado Springs Airport. In less
than a mile, it starts expanding to a gluttonous nine lanes, turning a
future intersection with Hancock Express into a sea of asphalt.

Crawford, dangling binoculars after counting 22 prairie dogs in a
grassy area that will be buried under that intersection, shudders
visibly as he contemplates what the construction, slated to begin next
year, means for the animals. Though prairie dogs are in contention for
federal listing as a threatened or endangered species, Crawford worries
this group could soon die under heavy equipment.

"I think there's something grotesque about burying alive one of
nature's best diggers," says Crawford, a co-founder and former
executive director of the Boulder-based environmental group Rocky
Mountain Animal Defense.

All hope is not lost for the critters — a private foundation
has put up $10,000 for anyone able and willing to provide them with a
home. But Crawford's worry, fueled by the video posted at probyparkway.com, is that even that
money might not be incentive enough.

"It appears we are at a dead end," he says.

'Keystone' species

Your first reaction to all this might have been, $10,000 for some
prairie dogs? WTF?

Well, the funds come from the Dallas-based Summerlee Foundation,
which has the dual mission of protecting animals and preserving Texas
history. Melanie Lambert, program director for the foundation's
animal-related efforts, explains the organization's interests range
from mountain lions to dolphins.

"In our opinion," she says, "all animals are important."

The foundation's animal protection branch happens to be based in
Colorado Springs. On trips to and from the airport, Lambert, like many
residents, has seen the prairie dogs scurrying between their holes next
to Drennan Road.

Black-tailed prairie dogs, the kind found here, once lived on the
Great Plains from Mexico to Canada. But they've lost between 95 and 99
percent of their habitat, according to Lauren McCain, prairie
protection director for Western environmental group WildEarth
Guardians. That's why they made it onto the federal Endangered Species
Act waiting list as a candidate species in 2000.

They were booted from the list in 2004, but WildEarth Guardians
petitioned for federal protection again in 2007, and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service is expected to announce in December whether they
should be protected as a threatened or endangered species, or again
considered a candidate species, in need of protection but behind other
species with greater needs.

McCain and other fans see the sociable rodents as a "keystone"
species in the prairie ecosystem, serving as dinner for hawks, owls,
foxes and other animals while also aerating the soil and improving
plant health.

Still, some landowners and developers dislike their burrows and
eating habits. They are officially classified as "destructive rodent
pests," meaning there are few restrictions on how or when they can be
killed — they can be poisoned, shot or bulldozed on a whim.
Federal protection, if only as a threatened species, would change
that.

Hole hearted

Even if the prairie dog doesn't get listed, $10,000 remains
available to anyone who can take the 30 or so currently at risk.

If your reaction to that was, How can I sign up? ...
well, it's not easy.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife has pages of relocation
regulations. Before approving a site, officials want to see a good
amount of shortgrass prairie, land that's not too sandy (otherwise
burrows might cave in), and possibly even evidence of other prairie
dogs living nearby.

Jessica Patterson, a local wildlife advocate who's working with
Crawford, says she actually knows a few ranchers whose land fits that
description and who would gladly take the prairie dogs. The problem:
"They don't want the publicity."

The DOW requires that neighbors be consulted, and these neighbors
believe the animals eat too much grass, and that cattle will suffer
broken legs from falling into their burrows. (Myths, Patterson
insists.)

While Patterson says the group still has a few leads, she and
Crawford would both love to see the city — which owns the prairie
dogs' current home — step up somehow. On Tuesday, Patterson
appeared before City Council to ask for help. After hearing Colorado
Springs Utilities CEO Jerry Forte say Utilities has no suitable land,
Councilor Jerry Heimlicher got Forte to agree to check out a
southeast-side property where Heimlicher has photographed prairie dogs
himself.

But city leaders are currently preoccupied with budget cuts and
other weighty matters; somewhat ominously, Mayor Lionel Rivera ended
the dialogue with Patterson by saying the city would do what it could
with the resources it has.

For his part, Crawford would urge city leaders to take the long
view, since federal wildlife officials are watching to see if local
governments can take care of prairie dogs without their
intervention.

"If they want to avert a listing," Crawford says, "this is one way
they can do it."